The Bucs were absolutely dominated by the Cowboys yesterday.  Bruce Gradkowski only completed 10 of 20 passes for 120 yards and 2 INTs.  Gradkwoski also carried the ball 4 times for 17 yards.  Cadillac Williams carried the ball 17 times for 78 yards (4.6 ypc).  Mike Alstott carried the ball twice for 4 yards and a TD.  Joey Galloway had a decent game with 3 receptions for 71 yards.

The defense was absolutely horrible.  The Cowboys did whatever they wanted against the Bucs.  The Cowboys ran the ball 37 times for 137 yards (3.7 ypc).  The Cowboys also completed 22 of 29 passes for 298 net yards passing.

The Bucs are just a terrible team right now.

The Buccaneers have to feel good about winning their game last Sunday against the Redskins.  The Cowboys have won 3 of their last 4 games and are surging behind Tony Romo.

The Buccaneers will try to run the football against the Cowboys.  The Bucs ran the ball last week and they need to run well again to keep the Cowboys offense on the sideline and keep the clock running.  Cadillac Williams (619 yards rushing) will be the main weapon the Bucs use against the Cowboys defense which only allows 85.7 yards rushing and 3.6 yards per carry this season.  Look for Bruce Gradkowski to throw a few deep passes to try to take advantage of the safeties of the Cowboys, who are a little slow in helping CBs cover deep passes.  Joey Galloway (38 rec, 626 yards) will be the main threat in the passing game for the Bucs as he returns to Dallas where he started his career.

The Cowboys will look to run the ball early and then have some fun at the expense of the Bucs secondary.  Julius Jones (813 yards rushing) and Marion Barber (409 yards rushing) should have little trouble finding running room against a Bucs defense that allows 121.3 yards rushing and 4.1 yards per carry.  The Cowboys will no doubt take shots deep, early and often against the Bucs defense which is allowing 209.9 yards passing per game.  Terrell Owens (53 rec, 724 yards) and Terry Glenn (42 rec, 534 yards) could have huge games on Turkey Day.

I like the Cowboys big on Turkey Day.

The Bucs finally got their running game going and possessed the ball for 36:01 of the football game.  Bruce Gradkowski was very efficient running the offense as he hit 14 of 21 passes for 178 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT.  Cadillac Williams had a great game with 27 carries for 122 yards (4.5 ypc) and caught 2 passes for 34 yards.  Mike Alstott got 6 carries for 28 yards (4.7 ypc).  Michael Pittman carried the ball twice for 17 yards (8.5 ypc) and caught 2 passes for 31 yards.  Joey Galloway led the receivers with 4 grabs for 64 yards.  Anthony Becht caught 2 passes for 9 yards and a TD.

Derrick Brooks (8 tackles) and Ronde Barber (8 tackles, 1/2 sack) led the way on a fine defensive effort by the Bucs.  The Bucs held the Redskins to 64 yards rushing on 20 carries (3.2 ypc).  The Redskins completed 19 of 34 passes for 188 net yards passing.

The Bucs got a huge home win on Sunday. 

These two teams really mirror each other…and that’s not a good thing.  The Redskins have lost 4 of their last 5 games and the Bucs have lost three in a row.  Both teams start young QBs and have under-achieving defenses.

The Redskins will undoubtedly come out running the football with LeDell Betts and TJ Duckett against the soft Bucs run defense that has allowed 127.7 yards rushing per game and 4.1 yards per carry.  With Santana Moss a little gimpy, look for Jason Campbell to throw the ball to Chris Cooley alot and challenge the safeties of the Bucs.  The Bucs have allowed 212.3 net yards passing per game, so Campbell could have some success throwing the ball on Sunday but chances are that Joe Gibbs will be very conservative to try to protect Campbell’s confidence.

Look for the Bucs to try getting the Cadillac out of the garage.  Williams (497 yards rushing) is having an off-year, but the Redskins are soft against the run as they allow 114.6 yards rushing per game.  If the Bucs establish a running game, look for Bruce Gradkowski to attack the Redskins with the long ball.  Joey Galloway and Michael Clayton could have big games this weekend against a Redskins defense that allows 240.3 net yards passing and a QB rating against of 101.2 this season!

This game will go to whichever QB manages the game better.  Kind of leaning towards the home team here (Tampa Bay), because I don’t think the Redskins have much confidence in Campbell who has never been on the active roster on a Sunday (25 games).

The Bucs were winning this game 7-0 at halftime, but the Panthers kicked their butts 24-3 in the second half.  It’s hard to win when you turn the ball over 4 times in a game, and that’s exactly what the Bucs did last night.

Bruce Gradkowski completed 17 of 32 passes for 173 yards with 1 TD and 2 INT.  Gradkowski also carried the ball 5 times for 22 yards and lost a fumble.  Cadillac Williams never really got going last night as he carried the ball 15 times for 44 yards (2.9 ypc) and lost a fumble.  Joey Galloway played a good football game and caught 5 passes for 87 yards.  Ike Hilliard caught 4 passes for 30 yards and a TD.

The defense played well the first half, but the second half was quite a different story.  Ronde Barber came to play, like he always does, and had 5 tackles, forced a fumble and intercepted a pass.  The Bucs did a real good job stopping the Panthers running game as they held them to 78 yards on 30 carries (2.6 ypc).  The Panthers did pass the ball well, completing 22 of 34 passes for 240 net yards passing.